The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-01-02

scenery. For 1t was at Ravello that Nicholas
Breakspeare, of St Adams, England resided
for time. Heis we'll known as the only English
Pope under the title of Adrian w. In the ca
thedra of kavello. in 1156-iust 100 years ago
he celebrated high mass in the presence Of 600
mobiles, thirtysIx of whom were knights of ST
John. Many of these men went to the cru AIDES
And let me say here that that famous order of
kniehthood owes its origin to the republic of
Amaih, whose enterprising merchants had es-
taoiished themselves at Jerusalem before the
crusades There they had built themselves a
church and convent for the use of pilgrims
who visited the Holy Land previous to the cru
sades, ano with the sanction of the Caliph of
Egypt then having Palestine in their jurisdic-
ion) they founded hospital which led to the es-
adjustment of the Knights Hospitallers of ST.
John. who afterwards became 80 famous under
the title OF the knights of Malta" In former
letter told you how the Amaftani were the
great carriers of the crusaders and their com.
mlssary stores. But let us return to Amalf
"A man will forgive you everything but sue
cess. Is maxim which first appeared in the
London Times, but there ia a great deal of truth
In It. The success of Amalf excited the
the cupidlty OF other parts of Italy
heavy blows were dealt it by the Psans in 1877
This was che first great disaster. But greater
danger awaited the little energetic republic In
the twelfth century the powers of nature invad-
ed 1t, and a large part of the wharves store
houses, arsenals-in short. mean portion of
the city-sunk beneath the Mediterranean wave
1 ms Is believed to have been when the volcano
],
burst its barriers, after having been uuiescent
from the days of Homer (who calls it ''Vulcan's
Workshop and from that time depression of
the lani, and consequent invasion Of the wa
ter, took place, which, the historian Camera
says extended from Gaeta, forty miles on the
coast north of Naples and as far south as Amalf.
1t was at this time. it is onjectured by geoio
gists, that the temple of Jupiter Scraps at
futeoh sunk more than twenty feet, and the i'm
mense columns to-day bear the marks of the
shell borers (ithodomi). who left their auto.
graphs upon the three huge standing columns,
thus recording how deep they had been buried
Inc mai blow to the commercial prosperity of
Amaln came when a tremendous storm and inun-
dalton occurred in l343 and destroyed what still
renamed of the city at the waters edge Pc
trarch has described this storm as one
which completed the work of destruc-
ton, and which engulfed the beach
which then existed between Amalfi and Atrani
Agriculture, or rather fruit culture and the man
ufacture of paper and maccaroni thus take the
place OK maritime commerce The coast east
and west of Amaifi is one carden-terrace
rising above terrace. The principal productions
are lemons, oranges, olives and vines. Amaif
and its neighbor. MAORI, regulate the wholesale
price of lemons In the markets of London, Liver
pool and New York. There is land upon these
apparent rocky preciplces which produces to the
acre $4OO per annum. The culture of the lemon
IS no new thing on this coast, for the great
Italian writer, Boccaccio. more than five hun
dred years ago wrote of the beauties Of Amalf
ruins its groves of olives. myrtles its precipices
It's white houses peepng out from masses Of
orange and lemon trees. and it's cascades, SO
beautiful after rain, ali made it one of the most
delightful portions of Italy"
But when one contemplate the past sadness
comes DER the spirit" of his dream Longfel-
low voices the sentiments of the person who
looks upon Amalfi for the first time and thinks
what the city was and what it is:
Where the freighted banks
From the marts of East and Westl
Where the knights in iron sarks
'seurnsying to the Holy Land
Where the pilgrims with their prayersl
Where the merchants with their waresa
Vanished like feet of cloud
Like a passing trumpet blast,
Are those splendors of the past
And the commerce and the crowd
Fathoms deep beneath the seas
Lie the ancient wharves and auavs
Swallowed by the enguing waves;
Silent streets and vacant halls,
Ruined roofs. and towers and walls;
Hidden from all mortal eyes
Deep the sunken city lies
Even cities have their graves!
know few lines of modern poetry more pa
thetic than these last twelve of Longfellow's
snort poems on Amalh. j. G. FLETCHER.